Sky journalist Peppe Di Stefano has confirmed that Paulo Fonseca has been leaving Rafael Leao out of the starting line-up because he isn’t fully satisfied with him.
Fonseca’s handling of Leao is something that has drawn a lot of attention in the past few weeks as the winger has become quite friendly with the bench. He did not start the game against Udinese last weekend nor the defeat to Napoli last night either.
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It has been reported in recent days that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been trying to work on the former Lille star’s mind to encourage him to react and bring out his full potential.
It is the same objective that Fonseca has set himself, who has opted for ‘shock therapy’ to try get him back in form rather than playing a player that he does not have full trust in.
Peppe Di Stefano spoke on Sky this afternoon and offered some more insight into how the coach is handling Leao, with MilanNews relaying his comments.
“Fonseca would like different things from Leao: on the pitch, in his attitude, in defence and attack; he sees that he has a very fast machine in his hands, but it doesn’t go very fast,” he said.
“There are two solutions: either you do like Pioli did, who understood the boy’s strengths and weaknesses, and had been lucky with the results of recent years.
“Or you do like Fonseca is doing, who uses a carrot and stick approach to stimulate him, but then you have to understand if Leao is the right person to receive this type of stimulation.”
LEAO LO DESTESTA THEO LO ABORRECE Y NADIE LE ENTIENDE 🤮🤮🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🇵🇹🇺🇲
fonseca is slowly ruining rafa and ruining this team he fonseca needs to get sacked as soon as possible
Simple strategy
Excellent TOP coach brings:
-Depth to a club
-Excellence in players
-Playing style
-Wining mentality squad….etc
When was the last excellent TOP coach for Milan???
Over 10 years.
So stop saying we are a big team if you can’t bring a TOP coach.
Leao’s pace and athleticism in open field makes your jaw drop. That makes you think he’s good in tight spaces. He’s not. He’s not good at creating and finishing chances near the goal once the action has slowed down. In spite of his stunning athleticism he really needs to reinvent himself and recreate his game.
Then there’s his defense and the apathy he projects. Right now he’s a square peg in a round hole at Milan. I admire Fonseca for having the courage to give him a wakeup call. But when you lose, you will be second-guessed as a coach, and Fonseca will be getting heat for his courage.
You cannot put a defender to attack as striker. Similarly Leao is not the one for defending, if you put him it means you don’t want his skills than asking the skills he don’t have.
Leao is used mostly to stay wide and pass the ball to Zlatan, Giroud in last 4 seasons. You cannot complain his goal scoring capabilities.
If you want to change him it’s not 1day job but he can do it quickly.
If the coach isn’t able to adapt tactics with the set of players he possess, he should have asked to sell some and replace with better but not Emerson royal.
“You cannot put a defender to attack as striker. Similarly Leao is not the one for defending, if you put him it means you don’t want his skills than asking the skills he don’t have.”
LOL. No one is asking him to play as a LB or CB. People just want him to participate in the defensive work. Ie., press the opponent, try to fight for the ball when you lose it (instead of walking and shouting at the ref) etc. You REALLY don’t need ANY skillset to do that.
you reply is spot on. if we dont want strikers to participate in ball recovery, we might as well as play them in the opponents box 18 or in the top quarter of the pitch.
place our midfielders at the center circle to cover the middle 50% of the pitch
our defenders to cover only the first quarter of the pitch closest to our goal.
there, the team is complete. any ball not totally within the players area of coverage will not be touched. hw’s that for “team” play.
its only in this manner that leao can stroll back to the centre circle without a care in the world.
I would really love to see his attitude under a top coach. Leao claimed he performs well in the national team? how many minutes played, assists or goals?
he can run very fast like a cheetah, but ever since he got MVP he has not upgraded his game. off the ball movement remains poor.
we complained last season that we had only one offensive side, the coaxh now attempts to have 2 offensive options and Leao starts sulking. without the ball he has no presence on the pitch, he hardly makes attempts to recover balls he loses while dribbling. he just loafs around and looks to other players to go fetch him the ball. coaches have found out his game: he needs space to run, deprive him of that and he is basically useless.
If he had Adli’s attitude off the pitch, it might have been easier to cope with, but his body language makes matters worse. his agent or father should hire him a mental coach. he desperately needs one.
I respect your comment. You have really nailed it.
People are still blaming someone else for Leao being poor and lazy.
They say Fonseca is ruining Leao like Leao didn’t go almost 6 months without a goal last season under Pioli. That was also Fonseca’s fault.
The problem is Leao not the coaches.
Did anyone see yesterday how much Napoli wingers Kvaratskhelia and Politano work off the ball and defend?
Napoli isn’t great defensively because they have great defenders or because their midfield is great. They are great on defense because everyone defends. Same with Juventus.
Everything that is happening to Leao under Fonseca, would have happened to him and more under Conte, Motta, Flick or whoever else coach Milan management should have hired.
🤣🤣🤣
Idiot coach
I don’t think there’s any other way to approach this, really. The pace and dribbling alone don’t earn the team points, and if Rafa isn’t challenged to become a complete player, he’ll remain a happy one-trick pony, with his valuation washing away as he approaches 30.
Well… How about getting points for having a former MVP on the pitch? Do we get points for that?
Some people act like we do.
There is a difference between a great player and a good player. A great player not only shows his skills, but also contributes. That includes when he realizes, someone else has a shot, and he passes. I have not seen Leao pass. He passes to someone he likes. but not to everyone. He creates a click for himself. Your team is your click, and I don’t see that with him on the field. Leao right now is only a good player. He needs to grow up a little bit more to be a great player and I think that is what Fonseca is trying to do, using tough love. This game is not about him, it is about the team and the spectators.
I respect your comment. You have really nailed it.